Secondary Play Helped San Francisco 49ers To A Blowout Win

By Lucas Carreras

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into the season, many wondered how the San Francisco 49ers secondary would hold up and if they could avoid being a liability as they were late in the 2012 season. In the first four weeks of the 2013 season, the play of the 49ers’ secondary has mirrored that of the team. In the two wins, the play of the secondary has been satisfactory while in the two losses, it has been less than so.

As the 49ers defeated the Houston Texans 34-3 in their Week 5 encounter, the 49ers’ secondary proved to be a unit that was exceptional in the blowout win.

The group was going to have it’s hands full as they faced Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins and Owen Daniels at the tight end position. But from the first snap of the game, they showed that they were up to the task, making an immediate impact with cornerback Tramaine Brock intercepting Matt Schaub and taking it back to for a 18-yard touchdown to give the 49ers an early lead.

From there, the secondary proved to be menaces for the Texans’ pass catchers as they were on top of them throughout the game, frustrating the Texans receivers who resorted to pleading with the referees for penalties when no foul existed or took place.

In the end of the game, the stats backed up what ours eyes saw as the 49ers’ secondary helped hold the Texans to 188 passing yards for the entire game, with most of those yards coming when the game was well in hand for the 49ers.

Just as impressively, they held Johnson and Hopkins to a combined five receptions for 62 yards, confirming that neither receiver was able to beat Carlos Rogers, Tarrell Brown and Brock off the line or down the field.

Whether or not one can expect the 49ers’ secondary to dominate like they did Sunday night will be dependent on how the front seven helps protect them in games against offenses who have more potent passing attacks. That said, with their performance in a blowout win on Sunday night, they at least showed that they can be a unit that can be relied upon to come through in any game for the 49ers.

Lucas Carreras is a contributing San Francisco 49ers writer for RantSports.com. You can follow Lucas on Twitter by following him @maldini3fan and you can add him to your network on Google.